May We Be Inscribed for a Good Year
As the month of Elul ushers in the High Holidays, it invites us to pause — to reflect, to reconnect, and to recommit. This season of soul-searching naturally stirs deep personal reflection, and in this, my final year as your Federation Executive, I find myself looking not just back at the past year, but across the past five and a half years of a shared journey.
I remember my early days here in South Bend — Zoom calls during COVID with the past presidents of the Federation, my informal circle of wise counsel. Again and again, I heard a heartfelt yearning for a bold, unified vision for the future of Jewish life in our community. That call stayed with me. As a servant leader, I embraced it with humility and purpose.
We began by asking the hard questions: Where are we now? What do we need to sustain a vibrant, inclusive Jewish life for generations to come?
The answers were sobering. We recognized the Federation faced long-term sustainability challenges, as our primary donor base is composed of the shrinking congregations at Sinai and Temple. At the same time, our Orthodox community is blossoming with Torah study, growth at the Yeshiva, and new families moving to South Bend. A recent Yale study projects that the Orthodox population in the United States will double by 2063, rising from 12 percent of Jews today to 29 percent.
Facing demographic challenges and the blooming of Orthodoxy, the community building goal of the Federation continues to be deeply rooted in our mission to create something meaningful together — a space where Jewish life can flourish across spiritual, cultural, and intellectual dimensions.
From that vision grew the idea of a Campus for Jewish Life — a “big tent” rooted in Jewish values and open to all expressions of Jewish identity. Though the journey had its ups and downs, we held fast to the belief that together, we could build something transformative.
When Sinai and Temple began exploring their own collaborative path, we hoped to join forces. While they chose to move forward independently, the Federation remained ready — offering land, space, and support in service of a shared future.
In the end, the dream of a joint building with its potential for greater community synergies gave way to short-term individual plans. While that outcome was personally deeply disappointing, it doesn’t mark an end. It’s a reminder: long-term progress is rarely linear, and meaningful change takes time, trust, and tenacity.
So where do we go from here?
We move forward — with hope, with courage, and with clarity.
Every small step we take now is part of a longer arc of rebuilding and reimagining. Our next chapter calls for renewed collaboration, creative thinking, and steadfast commitment to the values that bind us as one people.
As I said in my last Minute with Moshe: Our strength lies in showing up — together. That’s how we build resilience. That’s how we create community. That’s how we ensure a future rooted in both heritage and hope.
Together, let us plant the seeds for what comes next.
Together, let us turn hope into action.
We are what we create next.
May the sound of the shofar awaken our hearts.
May we be inscribed for a year of health, meaning, and peace.
L'shana Tova Tikatevu,
Moshe Kruger